Silence
by greatgoldenbaby
Summary: Can two girls in love make it through all the angst and confusion that comes with being two girls in love trying to make it? Not unless they speak honestly.
1. Not Knowing

Title: Silence

Disclaimer—I don't own Sailor Moon, or any show.

A/N: Some of you asked that I upload the old chapters on here for convenience, so here you go. :)

Chapter 1—Not Knowing

It was a very hot night. Even now that the sun had set, the air was heavy enough to choke on. Rei Hino lay back on her bed, supine and listless—it had been a long day of chores under the sun. She was content to simply lay back and enjoy doing nothing. She closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to come. But sleep did not come.

Instead an image of a lovely blonde with a pretty red ribbon flitted through her mind. The girl was looking back coyly as she ran away. Rei opened her eyes. She sighed. She knew what would end up happening tonight. It was a regular routine.

"Minako," she growled lowly, and allowed her eyes to close again. She had so many ways to do this. What should Minako wear tonight? A tiny black dress with black stockings? Or one of the light cotton skirts she liked to wear; the type that danced in the air and teased Rei with their scant length? Or maybe she should be vulnerable, in her underwear…the flower print bras and thongs Rei knew from countless shopping trips and shared fitting rooms that she wore…

What should Minako say tonight? "Take me." "I want you." "I love you, Reiko." "Don't stop! Don't stop, I need you, oh! I need you Reiko."

The phone was ringing, shrilly. It took every ounce of hard-earned self-discipline to take that steadying breath and pick it up. Her voice was low and raspy as she spoke, "Hello, Hikawa Shrine."

"_Rei-_ko."

The raven-haired miko's eyes widened, _I need you, Reiko, _"Mina- chan." The giggle at the other end of the line caused Rei to swallow audibly.

"One and only! You'd better not be sleeping, Reiko. It's a _Friday. _Friday only comes around once a week, you know!"

"I'm aware of how a week works, Minako."

The girl only scoffed playfully, "So were you sleeping?"

Rei only rolled her black-violet eyes derisively, "Trust me, I wasn't sleeping."

"Good!" Minako smiled and twirled her phone cord, "So why don't you come pick me up? We could go see a movie or something."

. . .

Was there ever even a chance she'd say no? This was really getting ridiculous. The miko opened the rusty old door of her grandfather's ancient car… it was her father's first, too. But she was using it now. Using it mostly to fulfill Minako's capricious whims.

Her grandfather was shocked to find she'd wanted it. She always refused it before. What was she supposed to say? "The girl I love, little ditzy Minako, made some passing comment about us needing cars; about every teenager needing a car. She told me how Haruka had taken her on a joyride in her shiny new convertible. I might never be able to afford that, but I can have this rusty old thing."

Rei had to admit she did like the feeling driving gave her. Like this, at night with few cars on the road. And of course, there was always something magical about pulling into Mina's nice house and honking twice to call her out. Then she'd lean back and count the seconds; Mina always raced down, ever eager to leave her home.

As the car door clicked closed, Rei felt arms around her—the blonde had always been so touchy with her. Rei didn't know if it was only wishful thinking or…but what else could it be?

"Hello, Reiko." Mina turned her head up from the nook of Rei's neck to kiss her china-doll pale cheek.

Rei could only clear her throat and silently miss the contact, as the blonde pulled her silky head away. "So where to?"

Minako bit her lip, "I suddenly don't feel like a movie. Take me somewhere else. Somewhere wonderful."

Rei chuckled lowly as she began to drive, "God, are you vague."

"I'm only trying to be mysterious and spontaneous for my Reiko," Mina winked and blew the girl a kiss.

"Yes, but what you call mysterious and spontaneous borders on lunacy for normal people."

Minako only pouted, "Rei! I've only been in your car for 5 minutes and you've already insulted me twice, do you realize that?"

"Sorry," Rei grumbled, partly because she knew her confused emotions made her moody and often too harsh around her best friend and partly because she was terrible at apologies.

"Not good enough," Mina smirked in that infuriating way she did, "I want some compliments to cancel out all that negativity."

Rei bit her lip and gave Mina a sideways glance, initially to reproach her, but she paused when she took in what the girl was wearing. She quickly turned her eyes back to the road, _no sense in us dying over a glimpse, _"I like you in jean skirts, you know."

Minako nodded, satisfied by the praise, "Why, thank you." She leaned forward and turned on the radio, switching to a pop station she knew Rei pretended to dislike.

For a time they enjoyed the ride in their lovely silence. With them the things that weren't said were the most important of all. Their banter was full of walls and dead ends, like a silly maze. It was a dirty art they'd perfected long ago, and learned to love and resent with equal fervor. But when they both stopped talking, and simply shared the air, the music, the heat. That was what spoke volumes.

Unfortunately, silence wasn't ever as sure or concrete as words. Words like, "I love you," for instance.

Minako smiled a secret, silly grin and rolled the window down. Sure enough the smell of salt air hit her nostrils; pungent and suggestive like her Reiko. She spoke in a sing-song voice, "I-know-where-you're-taking-me-e-e-e."

"Oh, yeah," Rei challenged, "Where is that, then?"

"Only to my most favorite spot in the entire world," Mina reached a hand out the window to feel that sweet wind rush through her fingers, "No one will be there tonight."

Rei nodded, she'd heard some popular boy in Mina's school was throwing a big party, "Why aren't you at that party too?"

Mina frowned for a second; it seemed like such a ridiculous question, "Because I knew I could get you to do something like this with me instead."

Rei scoffed ruefully as she pulled into the beach's empty parking lot, "Your powers of manipulation should never be underestimated."

"Not when it comes to you, Reiko."

The two stepped out of the car excitedly. For her part, Rei hadn't realized how badly she had needed a hot, windy, sandy night at the beach with the girl she adored. This time, when the smaller girl latched onto her arm, as if Rei was her beau, she didn't scoff or make a derisive comment. She only smiled with pride and allowed herself to enjoy it. She only closed her eyes and imagined a reality where this might be a legitimate date, and she was carefully courting the small blonde.

"Don't be quiet now, Reiko. I want to hear your voice."

Rei cleared her throat, "…When you put me on the spot like that, I can't think of anything to say."

"Well you certainly looked like your brain was active. What were you thinking of?" Minako ran her hands down from where they were hanging onto Rei's bicep to her hand, and held it in between, swinging the miko's arm back and forth.

"I uh, I was thinking, my inquisitive one, that we should find a nice place in the sand to sit and talk."

"Good idea, Reiko!" Minako was beaming now, "Let's go by the rocks, where I first learned about your fear of waves!"

"Not afraid!" Rei fumed slightly, "I'm just not a strong swimmer, you know I don't like the water."

Minako only laughed and tugged at the girl's hand, pushing her down into that spot they'd been to so many times before. The horizon was so blue it was nearly black. Sky and ocean melted together into a single hue. The blonde sighed deeply, breathing in the ocean as a whole, and then threw herself onto her best friend and soul mate. "Reiko you smell just like the beach sometimes. After work, if you've been sweating…"

"Don't be gross, Mina."

"No, it's true," the girl persisted, she felt a little drunk and giddy, "And it's sexy, anyway."

Rei only sighed and looked up at the nearly starless night sky, covered with clouds; muddled and overcast as her own head. "It might rain," she murmured, but she knew Minako wasn't paying attention. She never did when she laid on top of her like this, innocent as a cherub angel. Rei hated the feelings she had, when her sweet friend cuddled into her neck—when she pressed her lips and eyelashes into the space between her neck and collarbone; murmuring sweet nothings, squeezing Rei tight with her hands around her waist. And what did Rei do? Lie there and secretly want to roll her over, press Minako hard into the sand, stare straight into those flirtatious blue eyes, convey all the hidden feelings with her own black-violet orbs and, and then…

She didn't even really know.


	2. Angel in the Sea Foam

Chapter 2:Angel in the Sea Foam

Minako blew pitifully into her chamomile tea, her pouting lips hovering over the delicate rim, "I do feel bad about it sometimes… the constant teasing."

The androgynous figure that she shared the small coffeeshop table with shot her a look that was singularly skeptical.

"Don't look at me that way Haruka-_kun_!" The blonde pouted further, "I really don't mean to tease Reiko. It's just my only way of getting to her, is all. She's so stoic, and calm, and brave; she never lusts after me like others do. But I can at the very least fluster her."

Haruka sipped her coffee calmly, she hated these talks. They forced her to be subtle and oblique with her words. She didn't used to be, she used to be very candid with her advice to her young friend—until Michiru lectured her on the ethics of interfering so directly with the romantic affairs of her friends and comrades. "Oi, Mina-chan…I don't think Rei is as brave or calm as you're giving her credit for…"

"Oh, she is!" The blonde's hands were clasped to her cheeks, her eyes a cerulean swirl, as idyllic as a grass field at midnight, "She is the bravest person I know, and honorable and disciplined and pure…that's why she could never want me."

"Love's made you blind and idealistic." The sandy haired woman flinched; her words sounded harsher than she'd meant them to.

"What would you know about it?" Minako interjected kindly, "You've been with Michiru too long to remember what it was like…and you two are perfect together."

Haruka's eyes first widened in surprise, then became gentle, "Michiru and I have the benefit of being older, that's all."

The blonde's childish pout and sigh were telling of her age, she was only a girl with grown-up emotions. Her eyes became a pallid blue, lacking the smiling soul that was their trademark, "You have the benefit of her loving you back. _That's _the difference."

. . .

Beneath the cherry blossom tree, she sat in the perfect lotus position. Her mind spurned the tepid weather, the sweet smell of the tree, the wind that stroked her silky black hair, the grass that cushioned her…but it could not cast off one image.

That last night at the beach; Minako, an angel rising from the waves.

The blonde had tried, as she always did, to get Rei to swim with her.

"The water will feel good on our skin, Reiko!" Her girlish laughter danced with the wind in the night air. Her hair was a white blonde of incandescent sheen, as if the moon had chosen only her to shine on. And those eyes; Rei was forever seeing her reflection in them. Her pale, petrified countenance was so undeserving of lying within that warm blue.

"No, you go," she choked on her words as she spoke, "I'll watch you from here."

And she did, as she had countless times before. She could have closed her eyes and seen that whimsical vision just as well.

She knew how the blonde liked to take her red ribbon off, and fling it at Rei with flirtatious, half-lidded eyes. And then that white-blonde hair came down in rivulets, down to her waist in the most graceful of waves. Rei's fingers would then ache to touch the golden strands. She wouldn't. Instead she buried her hands in the soft sand. As she felt the silver grains tickle the lengths of her fingers, she thought that Minako's hair might go through her hands like sand, or silk.

With a wink and some laughter, the blonde would run nimbly towards the sea. As she did so, she would deftly unbutton her short jean skirt and let it fall to the sand. Her thin orange shirt would come next, flung to the wind, flying for a while before it too fell and became buried somewhere in the sand.

And then Minako would reach the sea—her birthplace. She had told Rei many times that she felt it her true home, that the goddess Aphrodite was born in sea foam and thus she felt a strange connection to the ocean. Rei felt some of this must be true. The girl simply looked too right in the sea.

The waves would gather all around her delicate body and take her gently into their arms. Rei guessed they wanted to take her down and further into them, back home.

She only wished she could hold Minako that same way.

Rei wanted to do to Minako's body what the sea did; to engulf and caress her. She fought off a certain jealousy even as she admired the way the water slid down the girl's body as she came up for air.

The material of Minako's flower print bra, when wet, concealed nothing. The pretty flower prints looked like tattoos that only decorated the girl's perfect breasts. Rei would stare at her friend's nearly nude form, transfixed.

She could not tear her vision away. But without her consent, her eyes were dragged upwards by Minako's own—she was getting stared back at.

The blonde's eyes were luminous against the dark-navy backdrop of the surrounding ocean. They were a mischievous powder blue hue. And her smile, one of immense satisfaction. Rei always hated getting caught even though she'd learned long ago that Minako _liked _being stared at.

The girl simply had a penchant for catching people's attention. It wasn't that she tried to; in fact part of her charm was her easygoing nature. She could not help her beauty, and she enjoyed watching its effects on others. Rei would sometimes entertain the thought that the blonde got a particular thrill out of catching Rei's appreciative gazes but it was most likely…wishful thinking. It was always wishful thinking.

Most likely Minako liked winning. Catching Rei being human, being sinful, _coveting. _

She would spend all her life solemn and depressed, she was sure, if it wasn't for Minako's loving nature. The girl was mouthing words at her that Rei could only attempt to decipher. But she knew, instinctively, that they were soft and beautiful. She could tell by the smile Minako was speaking through, by the look in her eyes. Yes, the words she mouthed were soft and beautiful.

And then, like the goddess she represented, Minako was swept up in a large wave, her body floating upwards amongst the sea-foam; she was escorted back to shore in a manner befitting her title.

Rei could not get that gorgeous image out of her mind.

She stood up in frustration- sweaty, cursing lowly. Though even through her fevered mental state, she could sense the bumbling figure in the foliage. "Yuichiro! What are you doing hiding there!" She turned sharply to face him.

Immediately, the gristly-faced boy jumped out of the shadows. "Rei-san, I um, uhn…"

Rei's face twisted up in understanding, in disgust for what she understood of the situation, "You were in there…watching me?"

"I didn't mean to!" The boy quickly defended himself, "I was sweeping, and then I saw you on this hill. You looked so beautiful under the cherry blossom tree and I…well I came to say 'hello' but then I saw you were meditating and…"

"And you decided to stay and watch!" Rei growled at him, and approached in a posture that emanated pure anger and hatred, "Was that it?"

"It didn't start out to be!"

"Then how did it go from a friendly hello to staring at me like a sex-crazed animal?" As she got closer to him, she could see her reflection in his petrified, apologetic eyes, "Even though I'm your friend, you don't have the discipline to control yourself."

Yuichiro's hands went up in a mild defense, and he unconsciously moved back from the approaching girl, "Rei…"

"You are an acolyte here! This is a place of religion…if you think these thoughts _here _of all places, then what kind of wretch does that make you?" Her eyes became pitch black, sans the usual violet sheen, and were no longer focused on the boy, "She's your _best_ _friend._"

"I'm sorry…?"

"I can see what you want in your eyes so clearly. They are unfulfilled, lustful, ugly, _shamed_."

Suddenly the boy halted his backwards movements, thereby causing Rei to close the gap in between them. For only a moment he looked at her closely, "Your eyes look the same…"

The dark orbs in question flashed surprise and hatred in a single look, "Shut up!"

"But they do!" The boy became adamant in his convictions.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

His brown eyes shone with a new hope, "I think you want me too…"

. . .

Haruka's convertible was much different from Rei's car. Other than the obvious, it was _colder. _Rei's car had no air conditioning and the miko loved it that way. She hated air conditioning. Minako never minded because she was the sort to always want to drive next to an open window.

She loved to have her hair blown in Rei's car. It filled her whole seat, and tickled Rei's shoulder so the girl had to crack a smile.

"What's so funny?"

The young blonde turned to Haruka with a vacant expression, "Hmm?"

Haruka smirked, she had more than an inkling about what was going on in the girl's head, "You're smiling like an idiot."

"At least _I'm _not one." Time spent with Haruka and Rei had turned Minako into an amateur cynic. She tried, but an affectionate smile would belie her efforts every time.

"You're cute, little one."

Minako sighed deeply and sunk in her seat, "I wish _Reiko _thought so."

Sea green eyes rolled derisively; there was no getting through to some people. "Do you really think Rei is immune to your physical beauty, Venus-chan?" Of course, the ego was always the surest route to go.

"Of course not," her response was instant, "I know she looks at me…and sees the same pretty face that I see in the mirror. But that's all it is to her. Her pretty friend Minako. Her ditzy friend Minako. Never just her Minako."

As Haruka pulled up in front of the Hikawa Shrine, she turned to the now seemingly tiny, frail girl. She wished she knew what to say, but her mouth hung open as she recalled Michiru's warnings. "Love…is complicated Minako. Especially between best friends. Especially when you love a silent, subtle person who is used to being intense about everything. You and I are the types that let flows take us where they may. But Rei…she needs to be in control. Love requires a loss of that. It is probably hard for her to let go for anybody. Give her time, ne?"

Minako could feel her chin gently turned upwards by Haruka's strong hand, so she was forced to look up into her wry, understanding eyes. "Thank you, Haruka-sama."

"You're welcome, little one. Have fun with your Reiko."

The blonde opened the car door and stepped out into the clear day. She had forgotten how small and intimate a compartment a car could be. She was barely out before Haruka whizzed away at breakneck speed. _I wonder if she can even see me wave, going that fast._

Minako smiled. She practically bounded up the shrine steps. Haruka was right as she always was, with her husky words of advice, _father figure, older brother. _

Minako halted, frowned. Her mind didn't comprehend the signals her eyes were sending it. _Yuichiro…his arms around Reiko…his lips…on Reiko's._

The only coherent thought in her mind then, strangely…_Haruka's words…_"it is probably hard for her to let go for anybody." _You were wrong for once, then, big brother._

_A/N: Thank you all very much for the feedback. I know I left it at a bit of a cliffhanger, but the next chapter will be worth it, I think._


	3. To Stop or to Keep Going

Chapter 3: To Stop or to Keep Going

Rei was exhausted. Spent. Her hand gripped her bow with unnecessary force. She pulled the string back as tight as her aching muscles would allow. Biting her lip, looking through the bow's sight window, eyes narrowed in a hawk-gaze at her target—she let it go. Arrow connected to nothing. She missed horribly, and it was only after that fact that she realized how very tired she felt. She ached from the inside out.

_Minako does these things to me, _she thought with a snarl. The girl had disappeared again. As she sometimes did. As she only ever did when she was dating someone new.

_Three days without that little brat. Coming here, distracting me from work and practice and meditation; making my heart heavy with sinful thoughts. I should be…happy._

She turned and put her weapon away. Feeling weak, she turned and walked despondently to her room. She met nobody's eyes, so she had no way of knowing whether she appeared rude to any of the shrine's guests, _whether there are or aren't people here, I am alone._

Walking directly into her bathroom, she took an efficient shower. She washed only until clean; feeling strange, feeling numb. Was the water cold? She couldn't tell.

Stepping out into her room she noticed the steam that followed after her, _hot then; you'd think I'd feel that. _

"You'd be surprised the things that you can't feel, _Reiko_!" –Minako would say if she were here.

Rei turned to her mirror, staring at her naked body; pale, and flushed from the recent shower. Her slender muscles were still tight and bulging from exertion. She analyzed herself, carefully, taking time to look into her eyes. "You're crazy," she smiled, "You are absolutely crazy. Now you're making up her dialogue?"

Her mirror self said nothing. She only looked back at Rei with hollow, seeking eyes. She had not been sleeping well, she noticed. It was something she'd known, but had not yet fully registered.

_How much longer is this going to go on? Her affairs don't ever _last _three days. After a single outing she can't wait to come to the shrine to tell me about his bad breath, or his awkward humor, or his mismatched outfit. I don't ever want to hear any of it but I'd rather that than this…this nothing; this no Minako._

One last look at her own sad, naked body and Rei decided.

. . .

Rei usually was not nervous talking to her friends' parents. She was actually more comfortable around adults; they were courteous and had simple feelings. Not like teenaged girls…not like Minako.

Mrs. Aino was very different than most adults, however. She was warm…you could see where Minako got her essence, her white-gold hair (though, Mrs. Aino's was of a dandelion-like texture that fanned out to frame a face warmer than a summer sunset).

Rei would be lying if she said she felt completely comfortable around the older woman. In the first place, quite plainly, Rei wanted to—for all intents and purposes—defile the woman's daughter. In the second place, Mrs. Aino bore an uncanny, and disconcerting resemblance to Minako…or, she should say, Minako bore one to her.

"Hello Mrs. Aino," Rei bowed, "I am terribly sorry for showing up uninvited, but I haven't heard from Minako in a few days, and as you know that's a bit rare…"

"Rei-san!" Mrs. Aino's smile was a sight to behold, for anyone, "Oh, Minako's been very sick these last few days, actually. I'm surprised you didn't come by sooner with soup and tea."

Rei's perplexed countenance wasn't visible to the older woman, only because her head was down. She looked like a scolded child. "She didn't call me."

"Oh," Mrs. Aino stared at the young girl, feeling an odd sense of sympathy, "Well you know my daughter. She's been too busy whining and moping at home to even pick up a phone."

Rei only nodded quietly, "Is it all right if I see her for a little?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Aino looked particularly like Minako when she smiled, "Your friend Haruka is there too."

"E-Excuse me?"

Rei pushed Minako's door open carefully…she didn't want to interrupt. She didn't want to think about the things she might be interrupting.

Things like…Minako lying there, in an oversized shirt and her panties, napping while Haruka leant over her in a protective posture, an arm slung around her middle.

She wanted to turn around and go home silently, but Haruka had apparently noticed her. Her eyes still on Minako's sleeping countenance, she spoke, "Hello, Rei-san."

"Hello."

She smiled, "I'm glad that you're here."

"I…just came to make sure she's okay," she spoke, "But I should go."

Finally, the sandy blonde turned to her, "And why is that?"

Here, Rei's demeanor seemed to change; her anger was sparked. She was trying to accept defeat, damnit, "Because she's okay."

"Rei," Haruka sighed and sat up on the bed, away from Minako, "I think maybe we should talk."

"It's none of my business," Rei said coldly, "I won't tell Michiru if _that's _what—"

"This has nothing to do with me _or _Michiru," Haruka realized something then, "I'm the one that shouldn't be here. I came because she called, but it's…it's 'none of my business' to use your phrase."

Rei's eyes became dark slits, "What're you talking about?"

"The fact that you're in here, being hostile to me and throwing around accusations about my character just at the sight of me and Mina should give you a clue as to—"

"I didn't realize that you two were so intimate."

"Hmm?"

A dark smirk was flung at the lanky, handsome form, "The name."

"What do you care if Mina and I are intimate?"

"She likes you okay!" Rei whispered harshly, feeling almost out of breath, "But I know you have Michiru too…so that doesn't make you a very good possible lover for my best friend. And if you hurt her, I won't hesitate to hurt you."

Haruka only smiled at the threat, "So you think we're lovers?"

"Are you?" The words were croaked out of a very dry mouth.

Green eyes twinkled mischievously as the sandy-haired girl clicked her tongue thrice, "It's not my place to say. And either way, I don't kiss and tell."

Rei watched in disgust as Haruka got up from the bed smoothly and grabbed her blazer from Minako's bedside table, putting it on with a suave air of indifference, "Regretfully, I have to go. I have a class soon. Please give my goodbyes to sweet, beautiful Mina-chan, ne?"

Before Rei could even blink Haruka was gone.

Without the air of animosity that hung in the room just moments ago, the space became tender. It became even with Minako's gentle breathing. Rei smiled, _somehow here I achieve the greatest peace; higher than any meditation._

Just what was it about this girl? She pondered as she sat down, first at the edge of the bed and then closer to the center, where Mina slept; where it was warm with her body. Rei could only stare in loving wonder. She watched as the sunlight streaming through the window stroked the sleeping girl's cheek, first thinking it beautiful before growing bitterly jealous of it. Without a thought, she stroked her own hand down that soft, serene cheek. She didn't know her calloused hands could be that gentle.

"Mmn, Reiko," cerulean eyes wakened to the world.

Rei whipped her guilty hand away. "Sorry, I…"

Minako's gentle gaze and reassuring hand over her own calmed Rei. The miko's guilty hand was again placed on Mina's cheek, "Have you been practicing, Reiko?"

Rei had a hard time following the conversation while Minako stared at her with half-lidded eyes and rhythmically stroked the back of her hand, "Wh—," _oh…archery, _"Yes. I have been."

"I can always tell," Minako whispered, sleep still evident in her tone, "You get so tense."

"Hmm."

The blonde smirked wickedly, before using the hand she still held prisoner between her own and her cheek to draw the miko close, "I'm going to give you a massage, okay?"

"Mina…" Rei began to protest, but stopped short. Perhaps because she knew she wouldn't win. Perhaps because she knew she didn't want to.

She laid face down on Minako's infinitely soft bed. It smelled of powder and her perfume and made Rei want to sleep for the first time in three days. As she started to settle into the position, she felt Minako straddle her buttocks and tensed up instantly.

"Relax, Reiko."

Minako's honeyed voice was like a salve to Rei's nervous spirit, and her hands were like cool water being poured onto her stinging muscles.

_Rei's back is all sinews, _Minako thought. She could feel that hardness through the fabric of her black t-shirt. With a coquettishly bitten lip, Minako demanded, "Take your shirt off, Reiko."

"What?" The miko spun her head around sharply to face her. The expression on her face was one Minako hadn't seen since the days they used to save the world, _fear._

The blonde almost regretted her bratty demand, "I thought it would make it easier to reach your ski—your sore spots…you, you don't have to."

Rei only spun silently back around, "Pull it off me then."

Looking like a kitten with cream on its cheeks, Minako fingered the very edge of Rei's t-shirt, before hooking her nails under it and dragging it up along Rei's spine, over her shoulders, off her altogether. "See how much better this is?"

Rei felt vulnerable at first; nearly half-nude on her love's bed. But the heat created by Minako's soft hands rubbing the planes of her shoulder blades, and down the length of her spine, calmed her no matter how in control of this she wanted to be. She realized for possibly the billionth time in her life that she was putty in Minako's hands.

"Reiko, you're so strong." Mina murmured, without even really realizing it. She stared at the miko's back with such blatant adoration that it was a complete shame that Rei's eyes were facing the headboard.

"Are you really sick?"

"Hmm?"

Rei repeated the sudden thought through the hazed mindset Minako's swirling hands had caused, "If you were sick, I'd be the one giving the massages here, Mina. Why are you faking?"

_She doesn't even sound mad, _Minako thought with a grin, kneading harder at the bullet-sized knots formed in the spot between Rei's neck and shoulder. "I dunno."

It wasn't what Rei wanted to know anyway, "Why haven't you been around, at all? Haruka keeping you busy?"

The innuendo went far over Minako's head, "I guess so."

"Hmm."

Minako could feel Rei's muscles tense under the soft pale skin, she could see the change in them, as if the girl was also getting ready for battle. The blonde stroked softly around her shoulders, "I saw you kissing Yuichiro; I thought I'd give you time for your new relationship. And I was also mad you hadn't told me, I'm your best friend and the goddess of lo—"

"Was _that _it?" the miko interrupted, turning around again, "Minako, there is nothing between us. He misinterpreted me."

"And you…"

"Corrected him."

"And he…"

"Is a bit incapacitated now."

The blonde giggled in relief and disbelief of her own sillyness. She should've gone to Rei sooner.

Rei turned back around and sighed deeply; at least it all made sense now. "Stroke around my neck, Mina."

The blonde smirked, tickling Rei's ribs with feather-soft fingertips, "Magic word, Rei-_ko._"

The miko would've fought back if she weren't so at peace with the world currently, "Please, you little brat. Please stroke my neck a little."

As she scooted up Rei's body slightly, Minako had to bite her lip so as not to moan at the sudden feeling. Her oversized flannel shirt had ridden up quite a bit and she had forgotten that beneath it she was clad in just her orange panties. She looked down to see the image of herself straddling Rei's behind with such a flimsy material standing in the way of her and nudity. Immediately, she looked away, and tried to concentrate on simply rubbing Rei's neck.

It didn't work. Now that she knew how exposed she was, she could feel every slight movement her or Rei made on her clitoris. As she rubbed up and down the planes and valleys of Rei's back, she could feel the most vulnerable part of herself sliding up and down the same little spot on Rei's buttocks, _I wonder if she can feel it…the wetness, or the heat._ She bit her bottom lip again, as she tended to do when mischievous or erotic thoughts orbited her head; she didn't know whether to stop or keep going.

_I appreciate feedback very much; if I'm just writing this story for myself then there is really no need to post it._


	4. The Chance to Tease You

Chapter 4: The Chance to Tease You

Rei's entire body was enveloped by warmth. Minako continued her tender massage, reaching parts of her body that Rei realized suddenly she'd never acknowledged before. Minako was the only person in the world that could make her body feel like anything other than a mechanical force built for precise movements.

She could feel Minako edging up to rub her shoulder blades. That's when the blonde's nude thighs rubbed sensuously against the bare skin of Rei's ribs. The miko managed to stop the moan that nipped the back of her throat but she could not tame the sharp inhale and pathetic tremble. _She's a seductress and doesn't even have to try. _

"Too hard, Reiko?"

_Darling, you have no idea, _"Just a…sore spot."

"Ohhh. Okay."

The silky hands resumed their torture of Rei's nerve endings and conscience. Love and self-hatred swirled darkly in her heart; _she's trying to be a good friend and I'm having sinful thoughts again— what's wrong with me? _Her mind failed to provide an answer. It failed to function altogether; perhaps as a result of her body's hyper-sensitivity.

Long ago, physical love had meant nothing to Rei. Love to her was supposed to be a spiritual connection one felt, and sex could never be worthy of such an emotion. But as her love for Minako began to bloom, a new feeling grew within her; an urgency. Her heart began to palpitate around the blonde, the hair at her nape would stand on end, goosebumps would rise on the skin of her arms. She realized it very slowly, how she _ached. _For months she was angry at the girl for no reason. Dreams of her hair, her skin, haunted Rei at night. And then she was forced to admit it. Rei Hino wanted for the first time in her life.

But still…it had never been like this. She had never been this close to her.

Again, silk-soft thighs rubbed against her. But also something else, something warm and covered in cotton cloth. It formed a tiny triangle of heat that pressed against the small of her back.

Her eyes bulged, she gulped as her mind registered what the source of the warmth must be. _Of course, _the voice in her head sounded about a billion times calmer than she felt, _of course the Universe would make it so she was half-naked on top of me._

The derisive thought was her last coherent one. Rei hated the part of herself that liked this. The part of herself that focused all attention on that soft, supple warm spot. The part of herself that wanted to lift her hands up from her sides and backward, grasp Minako's thighs and press her harder into herself.

She gripped the stupid pink bed sheets with shaking hands.

"I was thinking," Minako started, startling the quietly fuming miko.

"That's never good."

The blonde only smirked at Rei's usual sarcasm, "I was thinking _Reiko, _that Yuichiro isn't a bad looking boy. And that he's definitely not the first person to hit on you. But you…it never even fazes you. It's like you never want anybody. Why don't you ever want anybody?"

Rei had to clench her fists to keep from exploding. She wanted to run away from this, she wanted to turn and face it dead on. Minako was so wrong. She wanted. She wanted down to the depths of her soul. "Because," she started, her tone hard and serious as stone, "I just don't. I…have my religion. You know that. I want to devote myself to it, always. I want to be pure always."

Minako bit her lip. She was glad Rei was turned away from her. Glad that the miko couldn't see the disappointment in her face. This closeness had made her heady, as if she'd just swallowed many gulps of fine wine. She had entertained the idea of seduction many times. It was her nature, she supposed.

She drew various figures across Rei's spine. A tiny heart, an arrow across it, the emblem of Sailor Mars, the emblem of Sailor Venus—it was also the female symbol, she remembered from one of Rei's history books. Yes, perhaps seduction was her nature. Perhaps she could flirt her way into anyone's bed. But she couldn't do it to Rei. Not to her Reiko. "You know what I think?"

The miko felt like laughing at herself, she felt nearly hysterical. How can you feel a woman's tone of voice caress your insides? _Minako and her ways, _"What?" she croaked out.

"I think…" the blonde paused to slink down across Rei's back and place a coy little kiss at her nape, "I think…" the words were whispered into the spot behind Rei's ear.

Rei was feeling the world spin around her.

"I think we should drive to the mall. I'm not sick, and the others will be there today."

. . .

The miko had been silent most of the trip, and her usual bad mood was amplified. She felt…_frustrated._ Minako, of course, couldn't help the challenge. She made many attempts to melt Rei's icy countenance.

"I'll do anything for a smile, _Reiko-o-o,_" she flashed her own pearly grin to show Rei how easy it was. _It's so easy to smile, _she thought, _it's so easy to act._

"Anything?" Rei couldn't believe herself, _now I've stooped to frat-boy one liners?_

"Mhm!"

Sometimes Rei loved how dense the girl could be.

"Anything, just name it!"

Rei struggled to find something to say, before finally blurting out the question that had been hovering in her sub-conscious and scheming for a way out for hours, "Tell me what's up with you and Haruka."

Minako frowned, not getting it. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Is _that _how it's going to be?" Rei asked quietly.

"Reiko…"

Jealous violet eyes flitted quickly between the road and Minako's face, just long enough to see the genuine confusion written in the girl's countenance. Rei immediately softened her tone of voice, "I saw you two…being cozy, cuddling up on your bed and all. I guess I just wanted to know what Haruka meant by it, I mean God knows what's with her and Michiru but they're definitely more than friends, right? Which means that if she were trying to start something between you two it would make her a cheater and not good for you. So I asked her…and she told me she doesn't kiss and tell. Which means she's keeping a 'tell' to herself, which means there must have been a kiss…"

Minako laughed inwardly, _the most words she's spoken to me at once all day and it's about this? _She sat quietly in her seat, amused grin in place, and watched Rei squirm for once at silence. _Aren't you the one that always wants it to be quiet? _Minako had never seen Rei look so much their age before, she seemed practically childish, slumping in the driver's seat. The blonde let up as soon as she saw beads of sweat start to form on the other girl's temples, a sure sign that she was close to losing it, "Reiko, there's something you should know about Haruka and I…"

Rei steeled herself for the blow, _you better not cry in this car, Hino, not with her next to you._

"We're very similar people and…"

_Just get on with it Mina, you little brat, you beautiful girl._

"If you give either of us the chance to tease you," she poked Rei's pouting cheek happily, "We will."

Turning to Minako, Rei could see it was the truth, _there's nothing between them. _She cracked a smile.

A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews. I'm going to try and address some of the more often repeated questions/concerns. I have the entire plot of the story in my head already, so I will finish, I'm just concerned about pacing it realistically. As some of you have mentioned, the story is one of angsty, slow-moving Rei/Minako love. It's supposed to take forever, and frustrate readers. :p. I realize the story is heavily Rei-centered, however (without releasing spoilers) Minako's own feelings will culminate and climax (no dirty pun intended) in later chapters. I hope you stick with me on this one, thanks again!


	5. Serves You Right

A/N: Hi everyone, it's sillesick. I wrote a fanfic called "Silence" on here and finished two new chapters but I cannot access that account, so I found this old one. I'm sure most of you gave up on my story, but I haven't. I won't lie, I'm busy and my updates will be spread out over time, but I hope you can rediscover this story and get into it again. As always, feedback is the reason I share, if not I'm just writing for myself. For those of you that don't know "Silence," you have to read that first. It's not a sequel, it's literally the latest chapters of an unfinished story. Enjoy!

...

Chapter 5: Serves You Right

Rei hated the mall. It was the hub of everything she disliked about living in the city, but Minako hung onto her arm the way she did when things were normal between them and despite herself, Rei was smiling softly as they went to meet the others.

Ami and Makoto were laughing at some joke they couldn't hear and Usagi was waving a hand spastically back and forth, "I can _see _you meatball head!"

"Mina-chan tell Rei to be nice!" Usagi made a sad face at the other blonde.

"Reiko be nice," Mina pinched the miko's elbow to emphasize the point.

Rei rolled her dark eyes derisively and sat down on one of the empty chairs to sulk. She was only half-surprised when Minako fell smoothly onto her lap and slung her arms around her neck.

"So what's up?" The blonde chirped at them, grabbing some french-fries out of the large basket in front of them.

"We thought you were sick Mina-chan," Ami's brows were knitted with worry as she spoke.

Rei snorted sarcastically and bit her lip as Minako pinched her shoulder.

"I got better!" Minako smiled in that kittenish way Rei hated, "Really, really fast."

The group, except for Rei, all groaned at her.

"Why would you fake being sick for three whole days?" Usagi asked her, "We only had a test on _one _of those days."

Minako settled more comfortably onto Rei's lap and cleared her throat as she waited for a lie to form itself and come out of her mouth, "Well Usagi, as the goddess of love my duties extend far beyond those of being a Sailor Scout or a C average high school student. The world depends on me for the most important thing in human existence; _love. _And I just needed a break from the constant demands society places on me."

Makoto rolled her eyes and jokingly flicked a french-fry in Minako's direction, "You're absolutely delusional, Mina-chan."

As her friends laughed and joked, Rei's full attention was taken up by the calming weight of Minako leant up against her. Every time the girl laughed, she shook a little and Rei could feel a tremor sinking into her skin from the girl's warmth and happiness. It was more infectious than usual. When Minako shifted, though, to try and get comfortable, her ass would brush against Rei where she was weak. Euphoria would wash across her body in warms waves, making her limbs tingle and her head feel feverish. And there was no place to get away from it when the girl was on top of her like this.

"Wait Minako!" Usagi gasped, "If the goddess of love is out sick does that mean Mamoru won't be romantic anymore?"

"Hold on," Minako pressed the fingertips of her index fingers on her temples and closed her eyes to better feign concentration, "I'm sensing he'll be taking you out to a lovely restaurant tonight and a moonlit walk in the park afterwards."

"Oh, brother" Makoto exclaimed while Ami covered her laughter with a dainty hand. Makoto elbowed her softly and the two shared a smile, "Laughing just encourages their lunacy, Ami-chan."

Rei held in a love-struck sigh as Minako leant in to rest her head on the crook of her neck. The scent of the girl's hair was inescapable now. Lilacs and summer breezes and something else, pheromones maybe, that made Rei sleepy.

When she opened her eyes, Minako was biting her lip to stifle a giggle and looking at her with her eyebrows raised up sarcastically. "I can't believe you fell asleep at the food court."

Rei shrugged and yawned, "You tire me."

"Liar," Mina pinched Rei's shoulder for lying, "I disarmed you with my softness and you fell asleep at the food court."

Rei ignored the remark, "Where did the others go?" She didn't want to know, really. She wanted to move the conversation somewhere safer.

"Usagi wanted to buy a new dress for her date with Mamoru tonight."

"She has a date with Mamoru tonight?" Rei was skeptical.

"She might," Mina smiled innocently through a bit lip.

"Oh Jeez," Rei rolled her eyes, "Well, do you want to catch up with them and shop?"

"I wish," Minako pouted, "Ami brought me all the homework I missed the last three days."

Rei pinched Mina's hip with a smile, "Serves you right."

...

As Rei was about to turn the car into Mina's street, the blonde stopped her by gripping her knee. "Reiko, let me sleep over tonight. I'm going to need help to finish all this homework."

The miko only nodded stoically and turned back onto the road for the shrine. Minako kept her hand on her knee.


	6. Meditation

Chapter 6: Meditation

Rei put their books away as Minako used her shower. She worked fast, trying not to think about Minako in her shower, and finally slammed a book hard on her desk as the image flitted through her mind anyway. She couldn't even control the blonde in her thoughts.

She sighed and took her coat from where it hung on a wall rack, "I'm going to the sacred fire, to meditate!" She didn't wait to see if the blonde had heard.

...

The fire crackled and danced and drew her gaze deep into it until the abyss opened up and filled with images.

Her brows narrowed. She saw herself clad in strange garb— a light, black armor. Her hair was longer and she looked older. She had a scar across her temple, near her eye, under her brow. This was not herself a thousand years from now.

She could feel what this doppelganger felt. The heaviness of the bow and arrow set slung across her back. How light her armor felt and how strong it was; she could not identify the material. She could also see what this doppelganger saw, in her mind's eye, even as she watched the scene unfold in the flame.

Her surroundings started to manifest. Also unfamiliar. She was outside, that she knew for certain. The trees gleamed with a bluish hue that bordered on grey. In fact, everything was nearly silver in its aesthetic. The flowers, even the grass glittered with a silver light. She looked up at the night sky and the stars were calming, they reassured her she was at least in the same universe. As she took it all in though, she saw a blue-green marble shining in the distance—_earth?_

Rei fell deeper into the abyss, now. This vision unnerved her in ways that the most violent images of the future never had.

She heard heels clacking on marble. As she turned to the sound she was shocked by the beauty that approached her. Minako. The girl was a woman here. Her lips were stained with red lipstick and turned upwards in a coquettish smile Rei recognized. She was clad in a yellow summer dress that hung close to her body and had strange stitching at the hem. The miko's vision absorbed the background then, Minako was walking down the marble steps of a shimmering silver castle that was blurred as if waves swam past it. Rei squinted her eyes to try to make it out but couldn't.

"Reiko," the coquettish smile asked her, "How many times must I ask that you wear the Sailor Scout uniform or civilian clothing. The uniform of the Martian army is not something you're allowed to wear anymore. You're a soldier for _this _kingdom now."

Rei was surprised at the sneer that appeared on her own face in the vision, "Forgive me, my commander. Must've slipped my mind."

The coquettish smile held, "I'm sure it must have."

Rei could see that it bothered her doppelganger, as it often had bothered her when the girl used that enticing smile as a weapon. "Well you can leave now," she saw herself say, "If that's all, my commander."

"That's not all," Minako's tone was as usual syrupy and playful, but tinged with an authoritativeness that was new to Rei, "You aren't supposed to be carrying weapons when _not _in Sailor Scout uniform _or _when you're off duty as I know you are."

Rei felt her double's arms, she noticed now that they were much stronger than her own, as she untied the bow and arrows from her back and let them fall to the floor, "Anything else, my commander?"

"Yes," Minako folded her arms over her chest, and drew closer to the imposing Martian, "Please stop calling me that Reiko, no one else does."

She felt the anger rush from her chest to her throat, "Why should I call you anything else?"

She could tell by the sudden blush and the stitch in the fine blonde brow that Mina was taken aback by her tone, "Because when we're off duty we are at the very least comrades and should be civil. Even if you don't like me, Reiko."

Rei saw herself spit at the ground, she sensed it was a customary thing to do when angry for the dark Martian, "You Venusians are always pretending to feel things you don't. You want to me to play like we're friends. You want me to pretend like I had a choice in coming here, in fighting _the moon's _fight."

"It's everyone's fight, Mars." She could sense the blonde's demeanor as it cooled. As it left her. She could feel the Martian's heart as it broke because of it and tears came to her eyes even as the Martian's remained dry.

"And I should be fighting it on _my _planet." She stalked closer to the blonde like a predator, as if trying to intimidate her. Rei knew that it was a lie. She wanted to be closer. To reignite the warmth in the blonde's demeanor.

"I wish you could be too, Reiko!" The blonde hissed this at the Martian's mouth. Rei felt the warmth hit her lips, the tension. This Minako smelled of Lilacs too. "I wish I'd never had to meet you. Then I wouldn't have to think about you. About your stubborn pride, or how you hate my planet, my people, my customs, _me. _I wouldn't have to think about how there's nothing I could ever say to you that would change that. I wouldn't have to think about your eyes, or your arms, or your _mouth_."

Something about the way the last word was gasped, something about the shade of shattered cerulean that gleamed from the girl's teary eyes galvanized a primitive possessiveness in the Martian and she felt it take over her arms, which grasped the girl roughly and pressed her against her; she felt it take over her mouth which claimed Minako's in an imperious kiss.

For so long Rei had wondered at how she would taste, _like tart strawberries, _how she'd feel against her, _so lithe, and delicate, _how her mouth would feel against hers, _soft and wet. _The Martian kissed the girl over and over, until the two were delirious with the feel of each other. Minako slung her arms around the Martian's neck and pulled her in closer.

Rei moaned in time with her double. She felt her arms move from the girl's hips to cup her ass beneath the flimsy material of the sundress and felt Minako's whimper on her lips. The Martian lifted her up so Mina's legs were wrapped around her and walked them deeper into the lunar wilderness, stopping at a thick-trunked tree and pressing the smaller girl against it. Their breathing was heavy and they only smiled at each other; afraid speaking would change things somehow.

The Martian kissed her again, tangling a hand in her hair, feeling the silken bow undo itself between her calloused fingers. Minako pushed her back gently by the shoulders then slipped down the Martian's stomach, onto her knees. Both Rei and her double could only stare in wonder as Mina smiled up at her. The Martian still had a hand tangled in her hair and Minako grasped it gently and brought it reverently to her lips to kiss the fingertips, before taking the tip of her middle finger into her mouth to suckle. Rei could feel the inside of Mina's mouth, cool on her heated skin, and like wet velvet. It almost hurt when the blonde let it go, smiling.

Rei could feel the Martian's blood boil. Mina took her time untying the Martian's armor and the dark figure let her, stunned still. Rei could feel the layers falling off her, exposing her skin to the cool Lunar air. She was naked now, and vulnerable but somehow still imposing. Minako bit her lip at the sight of the nude Martian, her knees trembled on the soft soil and she felt her body quiver. She put her hands on her outer thighs and Rei gasped at the feeling.

Minako giggled at the Martian's reaction, at her heavy breathing and slack-jawed look. She kissed the dark patch of hair above the Martian's womanhood, teasing her.

"Ahhh" Again, the Martian tangled a hand in the silken blonde hair and tried to control the urge to take control.

Mina smiled as she trembled; she'd finally found the one place on this Martian that was sensitive. Slowly, she pressed her lips against the Martian's clit, latched on, and started to suck.

Rei gasped loudly as the image, the feelings, were ripped painfully away. The abyss closed abruptly and left her sweating, sitting too close to the flame, singing the skin of her cheeks like the blush occurring under it. "Fuck!" She cursed loudly, brutishly, so unlike her.

She was so close; she felt the soft porcelain face as it buried into her; the wet silken suction of that mouth; she saw the girl's hair fanned around her, the hair she had tousled roughly and left in disarray with the red bow tangled within the blonde locks like a series of crimson strands. She would never know how long she lasted. She would never know if she got to take Minako too. "Fuck!"


	7. Origami Sentences

Chapter 7: Origami Sentences

Minako lay humming in bed while Rei showered. She could tell the girl was in a bad mood when she'd come back in from meditation— she brought the fire with her. It wasn't the type of mood Minako could tease her back from so she simply bit her lip when the girl came in, sweating and frowning deeply. The look in her eyes when she entered dared Minako to say something, to say one of her jokes. So she simply bit her lip. She wished she hadn't taken Rei's shirt to sleep in. It always bothered the girl, which is exactly why she'd done it, but Rei in a legitimately bad mood ruined all her jokes.

She played with the hem of the button-up and kept humming. The creak of the bathroom door opening took all the music out of the room, however. Minako kept quiet and tried to gauge Rei's mood.

The dark haired girl was already dressed in loose, flannel pajama pants and a tank top when she emerged; she always dressed in the bathroom when Minako was over. _Even though we're both girls, _Minako thought with a sigh. Reiko turned to her then, with an apologetic look and Minako smiled; _the shower cooled her off then._

"How was your shower, Reiko?"

"Good."

But Minako still had to warm her up. "Good," she smiled and made space for Reiko in the bed, _not __**too**__ much space._

Rei climbed into bed silently, still avoiding Minako's gaze for the most part. The blonde knew then, that the girl had seen something supernatural in the sacred fire, as she sometimes did. It could mean a new evil approaching, _somewhere between now and a thousand years from now. _But she knew better than to ask the raven-haired miko, Rei would say nothing until she was ready to. All she could do now was try to soothe her.

"Want to cuddle, Reiko?"

"No."

Minako's lips turned up in a lopsided smile; the way Rei's eyes turned to look out through her window was the real answer. She sat up and slipped her arms around Rei's neck, bringing the girl's head to rest on her breasts and pulling them down to a laying position on Rei's bed. The miko was stiff at first, but soon relaxed into the embrace.

Rei burrowed her head deeper into the soft swell of Minako's chest, "You're such a little brat" she murmured weakly.

"I know Reiko," Minako spoke in a soft voice, and ran her nails softly through the miko's raven black hair; it was still damp from the shower. Moments like this were the worst, where she could feel the words surrounding her mouth and she had to bite her lip to keep them in. Because the "I love you" was dying to slip out of her; the secret nipped at her throat like a petulant puppy. "Reiko…" she heard herself say.

The miko was half-asleep and only gripped Minako's waist tighter, only burrowed deeper into her breasts. "I'm tired Minako, no jokes."

"I…"

The whisper hung in the air, mocking Minako. So many times, she'd started this conversation. Tried to penetrate the silence with words. They were origami sentences; they looked so pretty in her mind's eye but would never fly out of her mouth. They lacked the ability.

"What is it, already?"

"Nothing," Minako gave in to the fear that always settled in her chest at the crux, the edge of the fall. She walked up to it so many times, and peered down and tried to imagine an outcome that wouldn't leave her broken; but inevitably she gave in to the fear.

Rei stirred in her arms; lifting her head halfway up and trapping Minako's gaze in the dark depths of her own. Rei's eyes had the ability to hypnotize her; they always had. She kept the blonde under the thrall of those near-violet orbs for seconds, as if searching the girl's mind for something, but eventually blinked, "Then let me sleep."

Minako bit her lip, trying to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. "S-sorry," her voice broke. She shouldn't have tried to speak. Tears stung the back of her eyes and fell unwittingly down her cheeks.

Rei's gaze went wide, Minako realized dimly that she'd rarely seen the girl's speechless expression; it was cute. Her mouth opened and closed several times as she watched the tears stream down Minako's cheeks, saw her lip quiver and her gaze avoid Rei's in self-deprecation. Why did she have to cry?

The feel of Rei's lips on her tear-stained cheek made the blonde gasp, thunderstruck. Rei kissed both her cheeks, her chin which was draped with tear drops waiting to fall, her wet eyelashes, her forehead; all over her face save for her silent lips. The miko kissed her frantically and pulled her close, pressing their bodies together.

Minako felt weak, delirious, as she held on to Rei's sturdy body. She collapsed onto the girl's chest, letting herself be held. They lasted many minutes in that way until Rei spoke, haltingly, "Is something…did something happen?"

Minako only shook her head back and forth on Rei's chest, burrowing deeper into the softness and strength.

"Did I do something?" Rei swallowed hard, afraid of the answer.

"No," Minako spoke up quickly, "No, Reiko."

"Well then," she paused, wanting to not sound callous for once, "Then what is it?" She failed.

Minako said nothing.

"Did someone hurt you?" Rei's tone was becoming incensed as her protective spirit awakened.

"No, Reiko," she bit her lip, "I hurt me."

Minako could feel Rei's body stiffen at the answer; she was quiet for several seconds. "I don't get it, Minako."

"I _know _you don't," the sarcasm slipped, and the blonde quickly tried to fix it, "I—I'm just stupid, Reiko. I'm in love with someone, and it's never going to happen."

"Oh God," Rei couldn't keep the irritation out of her inflection, she didn't even try, "Who is it _now_? Some pop star idol? Haruka? A new substitute teacher who's just _ever _so gorgeous?"

Minako shrugged listlessly, "Does it matter?"

"I guess not," Rei let go of the girl gently, shifting to sit on the far edge of the bed, "I'll be here anyway. For this time and the next time and every time you fall in love with some inaccessible pin-up you barely even know."

Something broke in Minako's patience at the insensitivity, "Well thank you Reiko. For being _so _sympathetic. Because you know _so _much about love, don't you?"

"Don't be condescending, Mina," Rei gritted her teeth and felt her jaw flex, "Just because I don't have a new crush every week doesn't mean I don't know how much it hurts to be in love."

Mina's eyes widened in surprise and she fell silent, searching Rei's face, "You're in love? Who do you love?"

Rei's mouth hung open stupidly, "N-nothing, no, no one. No one. I just, I know that love can hurt is all. And anyway, you're not any more experienced when it comes to love than me, Mina. You date a new boy practically every week but that doesn't make you an expert in love. It only makes you an expert in—" Rei bit the tip of her tongue before the last word came out.

"What?" Minako asked hollowly, "An expert in what?"

"Nothing, Minako. Just forget it okay, let's go to sleep."

"_No,_" Minako pressed, angrily, "I want to know, Rei. Be honest. For once, just say what you feel."

"You want me to be honest, Minako?" Rei flared up, "_Fine. _It makes you an expert in empty meaningless sex. I'd bet anything you've never really loved a single one of these loser guys you go out with. But you let them take you out, and kiss you and touch you and I don't even want to _think _about what else. It turns my stomach just to think about it. It _disgusts me, _okay? Every time you disappear into one of these _trysts_ all I do is think about you giving your body to some repulsing stranger, about his hands on you, _ruining_ you and it _kills _me, okay? So there you go! Is that what you wanted?"

Minako's eyes became a cool, calm blue. She was beyond the point of pain, "No, Rei. You will never have a single fucking clue as to what it is I want from you."

Rei just looked at her bewildered, but mostly disappointed at her outburst, "Mina…"

"_Don't,_" Minako untangled her body from Rei's bedsheets and stood up. She began to robotically unbutton her shirt, revealing the nude body underneath.

"Wh-what're you doing?" Rei's eyes widened at the sight of Minako's bare breasts, before she quickly looked away.

"Giving you your shirt back," Minako let it slip from her bare shoulders and fall onto the floor, "You'll probably want to wash it since it's been on my ruined body. It's no wonder you don't like me wearing it."

"Mina, please…"

"I'm not fit to wear the clothes of good, chaste, Catholic Rei. I'm a bad girl, a slut, a _whore,_" she moved frantically across the room, pulling her clothes onto her body.

Rei stood up, "Minako you don't know what you're doing…"

The blonde laughed sarcastically as she pulled her skirt up her legs, "Of course I don't. I'm a lost girl aren't I? A poor lost sinner. Is that why you're my friend Rei? You want to save my soul? Score some points with Jesus?"

"Have I ever given you a single reason to think that?" Rei grabbed Minako's arms as she was trying to smooth down her shirt, and pulled the girl close to her body, "You know I could care less about people, Mina. I'm your best friend because I can't be anything else, because I—"

"What?"

Rei could only shake her head, pitifully. And that inability to finish her sentiment sealed their fate in Mina's eyes, _we can't be friends, we can't be anything…it hurts too much. _She tore her arms out of Rei's tight grip and turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. I'm walking."

Rei shook her head in disbelief, "Mina, it's late. _Please_. At least let me drive you."

"I don't need anything from you Rei," Minako turned back to look at Rei one last time, she could barely see her through the large teardrops in her eyes, "I never want to see you again."

Rei could only stand there after the girl walked away. The silence in her room was shrill, stifling and cacophonous. She looked around at the neatly arranged desk, shelves and closet. The only unkempt spot was the shirt lying crumpled on the floor. Rei bent down, lifted it up, and carefully pressed it to her face.


	8. Push and Pull

A/N: Hello everyone. I hope you're all still enjoying reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I'm busy with school and work but I still take time out to work on it, and I appreciate when you all take time out and review it for me. So thanks for letting me know I'm not some crazy shipper wasting her time writing a love story no one wants to read. And please keep doing so.

Chapter 8: Push and Pull

"Pull!" Rei pulled the bow taut, filled it with tension, then let it go, watching it hit the suspended target, tearing it to scraps. She wished it were her heart up there, and she could obliterate it once and for all. Instead it kept living even after it'd been broken, pulsing pain inside her chest every second she knew Minako hated her. "Pull!"

Usagi pressed the red button that made the machine fire a red disk into the air—_transmitter, _she thought, the button was called. And she was the puller, and Rei was the shooter. Still, Usagi knew better than to think this was the reason Rei called her over on a Friday afternoon. She sighed, troubled, "Why don't you just tell her? Just confess Rei, she's the goddess of love, she can under—"

"She's not the goddess of love, Usagi. She's never been in love with anyone."

The young blonde sunk deeper into the ground where she was sat next to the intimidating machinery; _less intimidating than Rei Hino_ whose technique was mechanical, but intense as well, frenzied in her ability to continue shot after shot without pause—

"Pull!"

Though young and often silly, self-admittedly, Usagi loved her friend, and had been trying to help Rei for years through her silent and unrequited love for Minako. Her empathetic nature showed in the tears that shone in her powder blue eyes, "It's too much for one person to carry all on her own Rei. Your secrets are starting to weigh me down as much as they do to you. I'm sick of being the only one that knows about your feelings."

. . .

Miles away Haruka sipped calmly on a cup of coffee while Makoto, Michiru and Ami sipped worriedly on chamomile tea. "So what're we going to do about it then?"

Ami frowned deeply and Makoto fidgeted.

Haruka rolled her eyes, "It was fine to just leave it alone when it didn't affect Scout duty, but we've gotten past that point now. They can't even be in the same room, how can they fight together? Watch each others' backs? Guard the princess?"

Michiru grasped her lover's hand, which trembled slightly with her anger, _but if I told_ _her so she would blame it on the coffee, _"I don't agree. We all had our journeys to go through back to each other. Some are still going on," she looked at the mutually blushing faces of Ami and Makoto, "And I don't think outside interference ever helps in matters of love."

Haruka snorted derisively, "I think that's easier said in retrospect."

Makoto spoke up, "I agree with Haruka here. It's all gotten past the point where we could say it didn't conflict with our duty to each other as Scouts."

Haruka nodded enthusiastically, "I'm glad to see you agree. I think if Ami and you came out to the others it would galvanize the conversation, sort of let them know their feelings aren't as weird or unique as they think."

At that Makoto's eyes widened and her face turned hot red, Ami looked away; _her _countenance was more of a delicate pastel pink. The brunette spoke up after she'd pushed past the embarrassment, "We aren't ready for that. We just, well we just _started, _and we already know Luna is against it. A-also, it doesn't make sense to stress our relationship in its infancy." The last sentence was actually a direct quote from Ami from the night before.

Haruka's eyes widened, "Why would _Luna_ be against it?"

Ami and Makoto glanced at each other for a second, communicating without words. It would have to be said delicately. Ami spoke up, "As Inner Scouts, we are closer to the princess than the Outer Scouts are. You two have always had your own mission. But _our_ duty is the day to day guard of Usagi's life. It's difficult to do that if we are bickering over our own inter-relationships with each other, or dazed by romantics, or broken-hearted. Love between Scouts would be an unnecessary distraction."

"Bullshit," Haruka dead-panned; she knew by now that Michiru was livid with her already, so she decided to speak her mind uncensored, "You're all already friends aren't you? You've always bickered and fought and broken each other's hearts, but when the princess' life is at stake you always pull together. You can't stop love, the tension is already in your group whether Luna planned for it or not and the only responsible thing to do, the thing that would be the least destructive, is just to be honest with each other. Look what silence has done to Rei and Minako. Their duty is obstructed _because of _their inability to say what they feel, not because they _have_ those feelings."

The room of extraordinary gentlewomen sat quietly under the fevered speech of the Scout of wind. There was no masking the fact that Haruka had a point.

. . .

Rei's body was a blur, though speed never made her lose her diligence. "Pull!" She hadn't missed a shot. Her body didn't register exertion, it was pure adrenaline; it was her desire to feel just this pain, just the pain of physical effort. To feel it so sharply that she couldn't feel even a single other hurt.

"Rei, I'm _tired_ of pushing the button."

"Pull!" Usagi's voice sounded like a thousand bees buzzing off in the distance; not a single word seemed intelligible. She could feel the bend in her perception which was becoming almost familiar now. Almost like going home to a burning fireplace, a cup of tea and a pretty lover—

_Her bright blue eyes looked into mine with such love. A soul love; tender and new. _

"Rei?"

_It almost dampened my sexual thoughts, those eyes. So innocent. But then that feeling like it was wrong somehow, like I was touching something so sacred, so pure that it must be in some way blasphemous—that feeling stoked the fire too, and then the desire became even more acute, even more painful than it'd been just a second before._

"Rei?"

_Her pheromones made me crazy. I felt restless, desirous, sweating like I had a fever; like the sick do. _

"Rei!"

_I took her moonlit face, blushing like a rosebud about to blossom, into my hands and kissed her desperately, with a hunger I hadn't felt since my days in Mars; since those days I'd been a hunter. _

"Rei, wake up!"

The incessant buzzing in the background of her dream was making sense now. The world began to take form around her once again. _Her _world, the one _she _belonged in; the world where Minako hated her, where her muscles pulsed with pain and hatred for her too, where her dead heart kept beating and breaking. She wished she could control these sudden episodes, seizures, little comas; whatever the medical term was for her perception falling backwards into one she'd held in the past. In the past where she'd been lucky, where Minako loved her and held her; where she wriggled under her on fevered nights. Where was she now? Lying, having fainted, in Usagi's arms. "I'm fine."

"You fainted."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Rei."

"_I'm fine._" She was getting up now, she was having trouble.

"You are _so _not fine," Usagi tried to help her up, but only got pushed away.

Rei felt bad the minute she watched the girl's body totter backwards a little and shrink away from her. She didn't know her strength after intense practices like these. "S-sorry."

Usagi frowned, she felt sorry for Rei more than anything else. She had no clue what to do about this, "Rei you have to tell her. She'll understand. All she knows now is what she _thinks _is the matter with you. Not what _really is _the matter with you. And what _she thinks _is what drove her away. So since she already doesn't want anything to do with you because of what _she thinks, _telling her the truth can't ruin anything anymore, it can only help," she frowned a little deeper, "Does that make any sense?"

Rei shrugged and gave a half-smile that honestly took every bit of energy she had left in her, "Sure."

"So you'll tell her the truth?" The blonde tried to temper her excitement; she didn't want to make a hasty move and ruin it.

"_No._" Rei shook her head emphatically; it made her dizzy, "I just want to fix it. Can't you talk to her for me? Tell her—tell her I'm sorry for all the coincidental little things I do to hurt her. Tell her I didn't mean any of it. Tell her—"

"No!" Usagi slammed her foot down in the dirt; it surprised her as much as it surprised Rei. She couldn't do it anymore. So many times she'd tried to push the two of them together after they'd broken their friendship. Once, she pretended to be taken hostage by monsters in a storage room closet and locked the two of them in it until they talked things out. Once, she'd _ordered _Minako, as the princess, to apologize to Rei for dating a boy on Rei's archery team in school and sneaking into their practices to watch him, distracting the whole team and making Rei look bad as captain when the coach showed up and caught them all (except for Rei, who was off to the side, seething) in a circle around the blonde, watching, hypnotized, as she talked about the trivialities of her day and played with her hair. It was a mess. Minako was hyper-sensitive to everything Rei said and did, no matter how seemingly minimal and Rei was _in_sensitive and in love; easily driven to jealousy. Her rage was easily ignited and Minako was a child who liked to play with matches. But neither could leave the other alone for long. They collided, smashed against each other, _broke_, and collided again. It exhausted Usagi, watching her friends hurt each other like that, "I can't do it anymore Rei. I'm sorry. I won't be in the middle of this anymore. I'm not pushing you two back together again."

. . .

"So we do what?" Michiru spoke up in the room that had gone so quiet, "We push them together? Make them confess and kiss and live happily ever after?"

Her derisive tone took the fire Haruka had ignited out of the room. This was true too. Good stories didn't end that way.

Michiru sipped her tea more as a show of coyness than for any desire to taste it, "That is assuming, of course, that you have any plan whatsoever."

"I do," Haruka lied, _she didn't, _"And it doesn't involve force. Just a subtle conversation that gives them a push, a _soft _push, in the right direction. They're lost as is."

"And who will talk to them?"

"I will," Haruka and Makoto both spoke up.

Haruka raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You lack my subtlety, no offense."

"_You _lack my clarity, no offense."

Michiru smirked, "And you both lack tact. I think Ami should, if anyone."

Ami's eyes widened in horror, "Oh no, Michiru-sama. I agree with _you_, I don't think we should be involved at all. Even a soft push in the right direction, as Haruka-sama said, could send those two spiraling into some new heart-break. It might take them forever alone, it might take them long into the Crystal Millennium even, but that doesn't give us the right to insert ourselves inorganically into their love story for the sake of efficiency."

Michiru smiled, "I couldn't have said it better."

Haruka frowned, looking to Makoto for support and finding the girl's forest green eyes staring wide into Ami's cerulean with a look of appreciative wonder at the young girl's intellect.

"So I've lost Makoto's support to love. Wonderful."

Michiru smirked, "It's funny the way love won't ever bend the way you'd like it to."

Haruka sighed, exasperated, at her lover, "All right. I get it. I won't push."


	9. The Duel

Chapter 9: The Duel

Haruka stared out of her bedroom window into the sharp winds raging outside of it; the way the trees bent to their will. She didn't think she had that power anymore. At least not where it counted. Her eyes closed as the recent memory of a lost Minako at her doorstep played out behind her eyelids—

_She hadn't been expecting anyone that night, so she was more irritated than anything else at the light knocking at her door. She almost didn't get up; it didn't sound substantial enough to be a guest. Maybe a lost kitten mewling for a saucer of milk or a tree branch suspended in the wind that landed at her door. Still, she felt compelled in some way to solve the mystery._

_Her eyes widened at the sight she was met with—a rain-drenched Minako shaking in the cold, looking so small and so pale she glowed. "You walked all the way over here?" Haruka frowned as her mind tried to make sense of the scene, "In heels?"_

_The girl bit her lip and only said, "Please let me in."_

_Haruka stepped aside, letting the girl walk through. Her heels made a sloshing sound from the water that filled them, and her hair dripped like a golden waterfall. "Let me get you a towel and start some tea…"_

…

_The tea kettle's whistle startled Minako out of her introspective daze. She'd been bundled up in Haruka's clothes, two sizes too big for her, and under a big downy blanket on the living room couch, but to Haruka's chagrin she still managed to look cold. _

"_I had to fall in love with the one person on this planet who hates love." _

_Haruka clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, of course that was it. _

"_It's just like that irony thing you keep telling me about," the blonde continued and Haruka chuckled at her dark attempt at humor thinking she'd taught the young girl well._

"_Oh, little one," she said gently, pouring them both a cup of steaming earl grey, "So what did she do this time that was so hurtful?"_

_Minako's perfect face scrunched up in pain, but Haruka had to admit it was still so beautiful. The type of lovely hurt actresses in the 1940s would pull off with impeccable class._

"_It's my fault." The girl's broken voice could only whisper it in this husky tone that was unfit for a girl so young. "I just wanted to let a piece of it out. Just a piece, just a little piece. To see if I could lighten the weight of it. To see if maybe it would make being around her a little more… bearable, I guess." The girl stared out of Haruka's large gilded living room window, at the howling wind and how it swayed the helpless trees. She felt like them. "I just ruined everything." She stared harder at the outside and couldn't feel the tears as they made their searing path down her cheeks. She felt so much empathy for the leaf in the wind, at the brink of being blown away into oblivion. Helpless but ultimately invisible._

_Haruka felt distinctly like a psychotherapist must feel hearing the darkest secrets of strangers. Being the vessel where they poured all the hurt in their lives. Minako was a little sister to her, through and through, but what was she supposed to do with the secrets the girl shared with her on nights like these? "What did you tell her?"_

_The girl scoffed, "Nothing. I told her I loved someone, and it meant nothing to her. Because my love is cheap. Because I'm a slut, 'Ruka, and my love isn't really even love at all, it's just sex. Just meaningless sex."_

"_Don't say that!" Haruka grasped the girl to her chest, trying to shield her from the blows of her own self-flagellation. She held her like that through the night, feeling her tears soak her neck and chest._

What could she do? Her hands were tied by the will of the other Scouts. They'd made their points and she respected that. But how many more nights could she stand holding her crying little sister in her arms? Not many more. She buttoned up her black pea coat and stepped out into the wind with a bouquet of flowers bundled in her motorcycle helmet that she carefully protected.

. . .

Rei woke up to an aching body that pulsed hurt. To an aching heart that pulsed hurt. But her eyes were dry. She thought today could be the day. She bathed and dressed. The shirt she chose was Minako's favorite on her; a red v-neck. She brushed her hair diligently, and smoothed down the cowlick that would sometimes curl upwards in her bangs. As she left the shrine she picked a yellow flower out of her grandfather's garden; the only one with orange tips in the yellow petals which caught Rei's eye. Smoothing down her hair one last time in the car window's reflection of her, she set out for Minako's house.

She parked across from it, wanting a second to breathe deeply and settle her palpitating heart. _Now or never. _She opened the car door, reached for the flower she'd placed carefully in the passenger seat and walked towards the house. That's when she stopped short. Haruka's motorcycle was parked in front of the house. She knew it was Haruka's motorcycle not because of the neon yellow paint or distinctive grey stripes, but because Haruka was still on it. She saw the older girl cut off the engine and take her helmet off, climbing smoothly off the bike.

She turned to her then with a wily smile, "Hello Rei-chan."

"Hello."

"Are you here to visit Minako?"

"Yes."

She looked her over, "Is that all you think it's going to take to win her back?"

Rei noticed she'd nodded at her flower, and bit her lip, embarrassed, "None of your fucking business," she hid the flower from her then, placing it behind her back.

Haruka unbuttoned her pea coat slowly, taking her riding gloves off to place them into her inside pocket. She'd forgotten she'd put the bouquet in there. Rei noticed it.

The raven-haired girl shook her head, browbeaten and disappointed, "I'm out of here."

"Don't you realize that _that's _how you keep losing her?" Haruka's fuse was lit the minute she saw the miko. For all that she sympathized with the confusion and pain that came with being a Catholic teen in the closet; this was still the girl that hurt her Minako. Seeing her turn her back to run away again was infuriating, it burned away at her control. "Your _cowardice_."

"Shut up." All Haruka could see of the girl was her shaking back, "You don't know anything about me."

"How could I?" Haruka scoffed, "You never say anything."

Rei spun around at that point, shocking Haruka with eyes that gleamed a menacing shade of violet and hands that had begun to light up with small bursts of flames, "What're you talking about?"

The wind around them began to center on the sandy-haired androgyne, "Do you really think no one knows? Do you think you're being _that _careful about it? That no one sees you looking, that no one can read your slack-jawed hazy-eyed expression like a book? The fact that you're playing dumb with me just makes you look pathetic now, buddy."

"Shut up!" The miko could feel only fire; the heat of her mortification, the heat of her anger lighting up around her, "You're wrong!"

The wind fanned around Haruka, so harshly that she was suspended a foot in the air, "We both know why you're here, Hino. You're going to go in there and offer her that wilting little flower of yours, say nothing, and trust that her heart is big enough to forget that you hurt her again. You're going to draw her back into your orbit, and keep her just where you feel comfortable. Where you can watch her like a sick voyeur, and want her, but never let yourself have her. Because that would be sinful right? That would be so fucking sinful of you."

The punch that connected with her jaw singed her skin more than it did any damage to the bone; it must have been hard for Rei to reach the height the wind had taken her to. She fell at her feet afterward and looked so wrecked that Haruka regretted ever opening her mouth at all.

Still Rei rebounded quickly from the fall, using the momentum to swing her legs and trip Haruka so she fell to the ground.

The sandy haired girl hit the ground hard, hearing her back crack grotesquely. The bouquet was crushed under her weight and the petals drifted prettily in the wind above her. "Rei, let's hold up a sec—"

She was lifting herself up when she saw the girl walking steadily towards her, an aura of flame about her whole body. She couldn't fault her for wanting to kick her ass. And in the back of her mind she laughed at what Michiru would say if she saw her now, "If I had a little less class I'd do the 'I-told-you-so' song and dance routine for you with maybe a violin accompaniment, but I don't so you'll just have to settle for getting beat up by a seventeen year old with supernatural fire-based powers. Now, should I call a firefighter or an ambulance to rescue your sorry butt?" The chuckle died in her throat at the drop-kick Rei landed in her ribs. She rolled over on the ground from the impact, coughing.

Rei lifted her up by her pea coat's collar, onto her feet, and stepped back, putting her fists up.

Haruka took several paces backward, away from the girl, closing her eyes and calling the wind forth. The myriad gusts of wind that shot past Haruka lifted the raven-haired girl up and suspended her high off the ground so Haruka could safely explain her callousness. "Rei please. I'm sorry. Mina came to me that night, when you fought. And I just, I was just trying to protect her. I should've stayed out of your way."

A bow of fire materialized in Rei's hands and she drew it back, keeping Haruka's heart in her sight. _She left me that night to go to her; _that thought played over and over in her mind. What happened that night after she left? Rei had envisioned her alone in her bed, thinking about her and crying. It wasn't that she _liked_ the thought; it was just that she'd romanticized it. Each time she envisioned it, Minako missed her more. But no, that hadn't been it at all. She'd been with Haruka. Doing what?

She let the arrow go, and of course she hit her target.

Haruka was propelled backwards from the force; the arrow sticking halfway out of her heart, scorching it. Even after it dematerialized, she felt the burning of her heart. She grasped at the charred skin of her chest and barely recognized Rei's shadowy figure above her.

Once Haruka had been hit she no longer had control of the winds that kept Rei prisoner and the miko was let go, falling gracefully to the ground and stalking over to the fallen Scout of wind like some crazy raging animal.

She crouched down to the wounded Scout and stared into her half-lidded green eyes. _Is that what Minako likes about her? Or is it her mouth?_

"R-Rei…"

_Is it her voice? Her hair?_The miko let her fury loose then in a chaos of punches to Haruka's face. She wanted to make her ugly. Wanted to destroy whatever charming, fascinating thing made Minako love her so much.

The adrenaline flowed so sharply through her that she could barely feel the points of the golden hearts that wrapped around her. Minako wrapped her chain several times around her hand and pulled hard, so that Rei was thrown feet away. She rushed to Haruka's side, taking the girl's beaten up body into her arms. "What did she do to you?"

The chain dematerialized around Rei in a shower of little golden hearts. She saw Minako take Haruka's bloody head and cradle it in her chest.

Tears stung her eyes. Minako didn't care about her bloody hands. Or her broken heart.

. . .

A/N: Please review the story! I'm starting to think it's boring or something.


	10. Honestly

Chapter 10: Honestly

With every step she climbed up of the long stairway to the Hikawa Shrine, she felt fatigue numbing her body. The adrenaline from the fight gave way to a weariness of body and soul she'd never felt before, despite her history as a Scout. Fighting Haruka had been her most terrible moment. It was like fighting herself, who she'd been at her best; like she'd become the monster now and was no longer standing on the side of good.

God, she was really losing it. She was losing the thread of reality. She was—

_She was looking out of a window in a room that was just starting to become familiar. Or maybe it had been for thousands of years and was now a memory awakening after laying dormant in her subconscious for the whole of her life. And what was the whole of her life, really? The seventeen years she knew or…she felt a thought taking hold of her as she stared out at the rainy lunar atmosphere. "In Mars it never rains like this. The raindrops evaporate as soon as they hit the ground, because of the heat. Here it all pools together until the whole ground looks like the Lunar Lakes."_

_From her bed—what was quickly becoming __**their **__bed—Minako turned her body to face her. The girl was clad in a nightgown that barely reached the uppermost of her thighs and Rei was so enthralled by the image that she missed whatever the blonde had sleepily mumbled. "What?"_

_Besides looking upset at Rei's apparent lack of focus, Minako repeated herself, "I __**said, **__Reiko, that that was a really pretty thought. Very poetic."_

"_Poetic?" Rei felt her face pulled into a frown, "It was just an observation of contrasting atmospheres."_

"_No," Minako giggled, "It was a __**poetic **__observation of contrasting atmospheres."_

_Rei rolled her eyes dramatically, "You're gonna drive me crazy." The statement had no bite, and sounded more amused than anything. Her smile gave it away._

_Minako smirked back, her tongue showing through her lips, "Bet on it, Sailor Mars." _

_Rei felt the girl's hands on her body. She was unbuttoning her long-sleeved shirt, slow. Rei looked down at her own nude body as Minako undressed her. She'd always thought she was muscular, but this body made her own seem almost wiry, lithe in comparison. Her muscles jutted out from her skin and formed firm curvatures, like the mountainous landscape of her native planet. Minako ran a finger around them, idly stroking Rei's bicep in admiration. _

"_Mmmn, Reiko."_

_The miko looked down at this body that had been beaten by battle. Her pale skin was marred with scars; it was an almost tigress-like pattern. She never noticed back in Mars, that it must be aesthetically displeasing to other people. And especially to this Venusian princess, with the porcelain skin and un-calloused, impossibly soft touch. Did it disgust her? _

"_What're you thinking?" She spoke in that rough, husky voice, so unused to Lunarian dialect._

"_I was thinking that your accent gives me goose-bumps."_

"_Really?" The Martian hated that she sounded vulnerable just then._

_But the way the blonde stopped playing with the hem of her pants to look up at her with love written so plainly on her face—though they'd both agreed this was just a tryst—immediately soothed away any feeling of insecurity that had briefly stung her pride. _

_The Venusian princess licked at where the hem of the Martian's pants met her skin. Rei felt her breath leave her lips in a fevered gasp. The blonde head moved lazily up her body, kissing at the scars, leaving lipstick and fresh bruises from her mouth's biting and sucking at Rei's skin. _

"_Oh God. Y-you do. You make me so crazy, Minako."_

_You make me so crazy. You make me so crazy. You make me so crazy, Minako._

Her own voice reverberated in her mind like someone had struck a gong her head had been pressed against.

The sudden feeling of a cool, damp cloth being pressed to her forehead made her eyes open in shock. She was in their living room couch. Her grandfather was patiently hovering over her, a worried frown creasing his brow.

"What happened?" Her voice was hoarse; she almost thought she was still the Rei of a thousand years ago. With her rough, deep voice.

"You fell," the emotive voice drew her back into the here and now, "You fell coming up the stairs, Rei."

"I'm okay, grampa." She swallowed, hard, the metallic taste of her own guilt over hurting yet another person she loved today.

"No you aren't." The diminutive man crossed his hands over his chest, "Minako is making you crazy?"

"Huh?"

"You were mumbling that in your sleep. Now, it's not a new occurrence that your cute blonde friend should drive you crazy, but it's never made you faint on the stairs before. What's been going on, Rei?"

"Nothing." She lifted her upper body to get up, but fell back on the couch cushions, dizzy still.

"Stop it!" The man's serious tone, so rarely used, quickly got his granddaughter's full attention. "Stop lying to me, Rei. Something is going on with you, and I've been biting my tongue about it, but it's time to confront it now. What's happening to you?"

Rei opened her mouth to lie but her voice cracked. Her face scrunched up trying to keep the tears at bay at least, but it was happening. Everything she'd tried to push down into the furthermost parts of her heart was seeping out now. She felt her grampa's arms around her; the man was clearly not expecting this outpouring of emotion from his stoic granddaughter.

"I—I—" she wanted to explain, she wanted it out of herself now so badly, but the tears were determined to come out first. Her grandfather simply stroked her hair, in a calm, steady way.

"It's all right," he told her, "It's all right."

"But it's _not_ grampa!" she finally found her voice; crumbling into his arms like a rag doll. She let him stroke her hair and listened as he hummed the song her mother used to sing to her. She was resolved to end this now. She was finally going to say it. She took a second to figure out how to start, "I have this secret. And I'm so scared of letting anyone know that I've pushed everyone I love away. And now it's just me and the secret, trying to kill each other. I don't even know who I am anymore, gramps."

The man nodded slowly, "Secrets eat at their vessels, Rei."

"I just—I just don't know anymore. At first I thought I didn't want it to be true. But now, now I think I've been keeping it because I didn't want to be rejected if she ever found it out."

Her grandfather gripped a hand Rei hadn't realized was trembling, "The secret itself, whatever you're keeping, might not be so bad all on its own. But if you push it down into yourself and try to keep it locked away it can become a monster. It will try to show itself in different ways. Biting at people. Trying to get attention; some recognition that it exists. Denial is your only true problem, granddaughter."

She sniffled and wiped her snotty nose, "What should I do then, grampa?"

"Embrace it," he spoke in a firm voice, "Whatever it is, it's a part of you. Even if it's rejected by someone, everyone, hell, the world; it's part of you my little Rei. I can promise you _I'll _always love you. I can promise you that I'll accept you, and be there to help you deal with everyone else if they don't. But I can also promise you that if you keep the way you've been going, it will only cause suffering. For you and everyone that loves you."

"But it already has!" The girl looked away in guilt, "It's already ruined the one thing that matters most." An image of Minako flittered across her eyes, like a ghost. She would never come back.

"You don't know that for sure," the man gripped her hand tighter, as if to steady it with his own, "You haven't given them the chance to find out why you've been acting this way. There's still the hope that the damage this secret has done to you and others isn't irreparable."

This idea stilled her aching, palpitating heart. Could Minako forgive her all her sins? Could she ever be accepted despite everything?

"Grampa?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gay."

The man laughed heartily and hugged his granddaughter close, "Was _that_ all?"

. . .

Baka. Idiot. Asshole. I hate her.

It was her mantra. She repeated it as she stared at the flower in her trembling hand. Yellow with orange tips. Rei had dropped it on the "battlefield."

Baka. Idiot. Asshole. I hate her.

What did it mean? Had she come there to give it to her or was it a symbolic part of this duel? Dropping something that so clearly represented her. Leaving it laying there, dying on the ground, while she went and indulged herself in beating all hell out of her big brother.

Baka. Idiot. Asshole. I hate her.

What had the fight been about? Haruka refused to say, _another idiot asshole she would have to hate at a later date, as her anger's schedule was all full-up and would be booked for months actually. _The sandy-haired idiot only said— after she'd regained consciousness of course—"It was my fault too," with her split bottom lip dripping red, "I lost it too." When Minako would inquire further, Haruka would only shake her head and refuse further involvement in what she lovingly called their "shit-storm of a relationship." Very nice. Michiru divulged nothing as well, though watching her make biting remarks at Haruka's beaten body was at least partly satisfying.

Of course that then only reminded Minako that Rei had walked away before _she _could let loose at _her _a much-deserved barrage of: Baka! Idiot! Asshole! I hate you!

And here she was with the words stuck in her throat. Fresh tears ran across her cheeks. She looked around her room. She hated it in here now. Everything reminded her of Rei. She'd long ago filled her room with pictures of the dark-haired miko, so that when she was here alone she could feel like she wasn't; like Rei was with her still.

Maybe _she_ was the idiot. She certainly felt like it now, looking at all those photographs she'd taped on any and every open surface of her bedroom.

Was it really a secret when it was splattered all over her bedroom mirror?

Of course it wasn't. Minako was almost mockingly open about it. She boasted it with every coy peck on the cheek, every lingering touch, every flirtatious wink. She'd been brazen.

But it was all in hopes of getting Rei to see it, to see _her. _

It was the reason for her "trysts;" these boys and girls she stringed along. She did it only for the thrill of that look of jealousy that briefly crossed Rei's face before she became a cold stone statue again. Only now she knew it wasn't jealousy at all. Now she knew it was disgust. Had been all along. Rei had told her herself.

Disgust because she thought Minako had fucked all those people.

Ha! Baka. Idiot. Asshole. I hate her.

If she could pinpoint the one thing that callous idiot had done that was worst of all, it would without a doubt be that. Believing she'd slept with those boys.

It made Minako hopelessly furious. She couldn't even begin to put to words the extent to which Rei had wounded her with that admission— "it disgusts me."

Minako pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, trying to relieve the pressure that had built there from all her crying. It was useless anyway. What she really wanted, in a petulant girl-child sort of way, was to hurt Rei back. All she would do all day was close her eyes and fantasize about what she'd do, how she'd do it—

_That Bastard Rei Hino would be sitting dumbly in her bed, wondering why Minako was dressed like __**that. **_

_**That**__ being a scant, yellow babydoll. It would be made of silk and part in the middle so her midriff would show—but that wasn't important. What was important was the look of open shock playing in the slack-jawed expression of That Bastard Rei Hino. _

_Minako would smirk meanly, "Isn't this how you always saw me anyway? I'm just playing the part of the harlot for you, Reiko."_

_She would say nothing. She would get up and try to leave. Try to rob her of the satisfaction. Minako would push her back down with a firm index finger. She'd climb onto her lap and make herself comfortable, straddling the miko 'til she was flush against her. _

"_This is the part you wrote for me, Rei." She'd bite that inherently crimson bottom lip until it appeared a shade redder, then suck it into her mouth to soothe away the sting, "Don't you wanna see it acted out?"_

_That Bastard Rei Hino would again say nothing because that's what she was good at anyway. Only this time Minako wouldn't let the silence intimidate her into second-guessing her impulses. What was there left for her to lose? _

_She'd bite the side of Rei's neck, hard. A pained gasp would then escape the miko's mouth and Minako would smile at the fact that she could break too. Rei would try to grasp at Minako's hips but she'd snatch her wrists before the miko's palms could clench her skin, "No, no Reiko. This is my game. We play by my rules."_

_Rei would of course want to protest, but the second that mouth would part to speak out in indignation, Minako would lick at her upper lip. And then Rei would freeze, stultified. Her mouth would hang open yet again, before she'd lean, as if hypnotized, into Minako; seeking more. Minako would angle her head away, thwarting the advance. "You've had more than enough chances to kiss me. This isn't about that."_

_She wouldn't care to respond to the perplexed look the raven-haired heartbreaker would inevitably adopt. _

_She'd smile, "You'll see soon enough," and condescendingly peck Rei's nose. She'd then slide her lips down so they'd hover a hair's breadth from Rei's, "Stick your tongue out." The miko would swiftly comply and that's how Minako would know she'd gained control. She'd wrap her lips around the stiff, scarlet-colored muscle and feel it twitch in her mouth as she suckled. And if Rei moaned in her mouth—which she very well might—she'd stop, because this wasn't about That Bastard Rei Hino's pleasure. _

_She wants revenge. She wants to make Rei crazy. _

_So she'd wriggle in her lap from side to side, coiling her abdomen the way she'd learned in dance class. Rei would moan deeply and press her burning forehead onto Minako's. She'd be able to tell by the flush in the young miko's face that it was time to pull the wrists she still held in her grasp and put Rei's hands on her skin. She'd run them from the top of the swell of her breasts to the naked dip of her midriff and lower, "Point your hands like you're doing Fire Soul." Rei would comply, confused, placing her hands in the gun-like position of the first attack she'd held as a Sailor Scout._

_Minako would run her hands over the firm, nimble fingers before leading them to her entrance. She'd slide her panties to the side and aim Rei's prone fingers where she needed them. She'd look into those dark, suddenly timid eyes before spearing herself onto the erect digits._

_Her eyes would still be locked onto Rei's, even as tears pooled out of them from the pain. She wanted to see the dark-violet orbs widen at the feel of Minako's hymen as it broke around her. She wanted Rei to have the irrefutable proof of all the years she'd waited, a pitiable loser in love, for Rei. For her true love. Because for all her coy mischievousness, Minako Aino was the world's last sincere believer in the classic art of the great romance. And she'd waited for her own Jack Dawson, her own Romeo…her Reiko._

_She wanted to see the indisputable truth of her faithfulness drip down Reiko's hands as cherry red evidence. Rei would finally know— all of it. The depth of her love. _

But Minako would never be that bold. Rei would never know why it had hurt so badly that she thought of Minako as a _loose _girl. Rei would never know a lot of things.

And why?

They weren't friends anymore. They weren't anything. She really didn't have anything to lose anymore. So why was she still biting her lip in silence?

…

Rei went into her bathroom after her grandfather had finally let her get up off the couch and grabbed the edge of the sink with both hands, as if it would ballast her to earth; keep her from falling out of orbit. She turned the water on and felt it slip through her fingers—ice cold. She cupped it in her hands and splashed her face over and over. One way or another she had to shake this mania.

"I love Minako."

She'd barely breathed the words out. She stared at her own face in the mirror and wondered if she'd really even said anything.

"I love Minako Aino."

She'd never said it out loud to herself before. Not like this. It felt like taking a breath of fresh, dewy morning air after spending decades trapped in a dank dungeon, feverish and hungry, for a crime she honestly regretted committing. Was this the sin or had it been the silence all along? All she knew was that this was cathartic; a purging of something that had weighed her down so heavily. Her grandfather was right about secrets.

She knew now that purity in people is honesty. She'd seen her father build an empire on smiling lies and political double-speak. She'd been like _that_, keeping up a front. It had turned her into someone else, someone polluted with dishonesty.

She looked deeply into her own face and made a vow, a new promise to live honestly. It felt good. Still, it killed her that she had to lose Minako to learn this lesson.

"Rei!" Her grandfather called from downstairs, "There's a very pretty girl at the door for you!"

. . .

Thanks for all the reviews! Oh yeah, and please post more reviews! ;)


	11. Say Nothing At All

Rei gripped the edge of her bathroom sink so hard, the frame of the wood made red indents on her palms. She wasn't exactly up for a conversation. But then again, the idea of sending whatever visitor was down there away (an angry Usagi? an angry Haruka? an angry Michiru?) was too akin to running away for it to sit well with her pride.

Swallowing fear always came easier to her than swallowing pride. "I'll be down in a minute grampa!"

She looked into her eyes and tried to access any hidden reserve of stoic calm that might still be buried within her after this very long day. She found none, but stepped out into the dimly lit corridor anyway.

. . .

Rei could not hold in a gasp when she reached the door. Her mouth gaped a little, and her pupils flipped drastically back and forth as if they couldn't fathom the image they'd been met with.

Minako was standing there, arms crossed across her middle. She looked cold, though she was wearing a cardigan and leggings under her skirt tonight. In her left hand she held the flower Rei had picked for her, and forgotten about until this very moment.

A flurry of thoughts, apologies mostly, flitted through the miko's mind. Things she thought she'd never have a chance to say.

"I thought you never wanted to see me again…" She cringed immediately after saying it, _words really aren't my thing._

Minako turned to her, eyes icy; a shade of blue Rei had seen only on the battlefield before now.

"I _didn't. _And then I did. And you were hurting my friend. On my _driveway, _might I add—"

Rei only took in half the rant, though she recognized the fact that she deserved the bulk of it. "You're returning your flower?"

Minako stopped, mouth hanging open in mid-rant. She watched Rei play with the splintered frame of the shrine's door, looking chastised and so tired that Minako felt almost mean. _But I'm not the bad one here. And the fact that she has the __**gall **__to sound so damn heartbroken is the absolute most maddening thing about all of this._

"Well, Rei, seeing as you never actually _gave _it to me, as far as I'm concerned I'm just returning your lost property." She extended her arm and the flower wilted towards her hand as if it didn't want to let go. The petals brushed her trembling fingertips.

Rei's heart tore open another sliver at hearing Minako call her 'Rei,' at the fact that she was trying to give back the first flower Rei had ever had the guts to give her.

"Please, Mina…Mina_ko_. Please, just keep it."

"Why?" the blonde asked, but withdrew the hand she'd formerly extended.

Rei's darkened face revealed a pain she couldn't put to words. But she had to. It was what honest people did.

"Because I wanted you to have it." Her head slumped after she said it, 'til her chin almost grazed her chest. It was so hard for her to be open about her feelings. It never came out just right, if it even came out at all.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Rei." Minako's hands hugged her middle again.

The words triggered a vision of Haruka that flashed behind Rei's eyes. The memory paled her face. It made bile rise up in the back of her throat. It was hard to swallow. Had she really done all that? One glance at her raw, red knuckles and the face of the girl who hated her was more than enough of an answer.

Minako shook her head, disappointment and disbelief marring her pretty features, at Rei's long silence. She turned to leave.

Before she could think Rei saw her own wounded hand grabbing at Minako's arm. The flower fell between them.

"Get off me, you brute!" The girl's eyes sparked with anger; the shade of blue fire gets to if it's hot enough.

"Mina please," Rei let her grip loosen, she simply held the girl's arm now, "Let me explain."

Minako's countenance looked distinctly unconvinced but she was standing still. As time seemed to be. Rei knew whatever she said now would determine everything.

"And I'll answer anything you ask me," the miko's voice was low, but clearly pleading, "We can go wherever you'd like. And we'll just talk. And the second you say you want to go home, I'll drive you. A-and I'll never talk to you again if that's what you want."

Minako could only stare at the outpour of emotion. She watched the expressions on Rei's face change to an open look of sorrow; _unguarded_. It was like watching the Berlin wall come down.

She freed her arm from Rei's gentle hold roughly but muttered a barely audible "Fine."

It took Rei a wide-eyed second to process it. _Another second chance. _Minako had given her so many over the years they'd been friends, and thinking back over her recent bouts of Silver Millennium flashbacks, that number was in actuality much higher than she'd thought originally. It seemed unfair to ask forgiveness again for her constant brutishness, for her selfishness, and the callous insults that seemed to slide out of her tongue with such ease. A nobler person would let Minako go.

"Just let me get my coat." But she could never do that.

. . .

She closed the door with a soft click and leaned heavily against it, heaving out a deep sigh. Her brow furrowed as if to cry but she held it back. Crying would imply that she didn't deserve Minako's spite. And she did.

So she turned to walk into the living room, and rifle through the coat-rack. She picked out a weathered leather jacket that her father used to wear. Back before he was a senator. Back when he was just her father. She put it on and zipped it up; surprised that it fit her now. She used to play dress-up in it and pretend it was a suit of armor. Part of her still thought of it in that sense, like she was somehow stronger with the weight of it around her.

"Pssst!" The sharp sound broke through her reverie.

Rei turned her attention to the sudden noise.

Her grandfather was standing there. He gave Rei an esoteric wink and waved her over with a frenzied palm. When the girl was close he wiggled an index finger animatedly up at her, signaling her to lean down by him.

He spoke into her ear at a timbre that was quite surreptitious, "Do you want some grandfatherly advice?"

"What?"

He glanced briskly back and forth before repeating, conspiratorially, "Some grandfatherly advice."

"About what?"

"_Women._" He whispered promptly.

"Ah," Rei rolled her eyes, understanding now, and wiggled _her _finger at him so that he leant his ear near enough to her to hear her whisper quite clearly: "Grampa—you don't actually _know _anything about women. But thanks."

She then turned back to the coat-rack and picked out a big red jacket for Minako to wear. It was bound to be cold tonight. As she left she couldn't help a small smile that spread at the distant sound of her grandfather yelling, in a huff, "I'm hip damn it!"

. . .

Once Rei went inside, Minako bent down to pick up the now-dusty flower. It'd been through so much turmoil since Rei had ripped it from the soil it'd come to call home. But it was still beautiful, its petals still vibrant. Minako put it into the small pocket in the inside-lining of her cardigan. She wanted to press it into the pages of her diary and hold on to it always.

"Hey."

She wondered how long Rei had been standing behind her.

"You're taking me to the beach to talk." Minako whipped around and bit back the sympathy that gripped her heart at seeing Rei standing there, looking so sad and unsure.

"Okay." The girl said, before sheepishly handing her the jacket that hung limply from her clammy grip, "I thought maybe you'd need this. It's supposed to get really cold tonight."

Minako's mouth nearly twitched in a smile; she was barely holding on to her cool veneer.

"Thank you." She grabbed the sweatshirt from Rei, and threw it on over her shoulders. She smoothed it over. The front was emblazoned with a "T*A Private School" logo in block script, beneath that it read _archery team _in small, elegant calligraphy. She almost laughed at the irony. She'd always wanted to be the girl that wore Rei's Letterman Jacket. And here she was, enveloped in Rei's scent, wearing a symbol of her possession, but she couldn't enjoy any of it.

. . .

The drive to the beach was utterly silent. Minako felt like she was floating there. She felt the salt air whipping past them through the half open window but did not care to stick her hand out to feel the wind slide through her fingers the way she used to do. She thought she'd feel different about Rei here, that it would be easy to forgive her in the place where they'd been closest. It wasn't.

There was no simple solution for…whatever this all was.

They were sliding into the empty parking lot. The beach was supposed to be closed at night but you could hop over the fence, easy. They'd found this out at age 15 when Minako had had the sudden desire to sleep on the beach. Her parents had had a big fight. They sat on the sand and watched the waves crash together until the roar of the dark swell lulled them to sleep. Rei had held her all that night.

Two years later and everything was so messed up.

She fought back a sob as Rei lifted her up by the waist so she could grab hold of the top of the fence. The miko lifted herself up after and they dropped onto the sand together.

Minako bundled the jacket tighter around her body as they walked up to the coast. Rei was right, it was cold.

For minutes they simply stood, staring into that black ocean— the waves that reflected the light of the moon, the crest and the fall. Minako thought it a good description of her friendship with Rei. Peaks and lows. Rei was the only one that could destroy her, and the only one that could put her back together again.

The miko was silent, though she was dying to speak. She was resolved to let Minako start talking first.

"You said you'd answer anything I asked…"

Rei couldn't read the girl's inflection. "Yes, I did."

"Well, are you?"

Rei nodded emphatically though Minako was staring at the sea, "Yes, I am."

"Did you mean what you said that night? Do I really disgust you?" Minako turned to her then, tears at the corners of her eyes.

"No!" It was like she couldn't say it fast enough, "No, Mina. I don't think that. I—I didn't mean it like that."

"How did you mean it then?"

Rei's mouth moved to form words but could grasp none. Nothing was coming out. It started to rain. The droplets collected on Minako's bangs to form little globules that reflected Rei's face back at her. She didn't like what she saw.

If she were the Rei of a thousand years ago she'd have an answer. She'd speak in the rough accent Minako loved. She'd kiss her hard; lay her body down into the wet sand until it formed indents of the curvatures in Minako's back and make love to her until every piece of the girl's heart that she had wounded with her callousness was healed. But she was just the shadow of that person.

She walked up to the ethereal girl and kissed her forehead, tasting the rain.

"Not at all," she whispered into her pallid skin, "I didn't mean it at all."

Minako shook her head despondently, "I know some people think I'm boy crazy, Reiko," she sniffled, "But some people, some mean people think _other _things, and they say it behind my back or write it on bathroom walls and it used to hurt _so _much. And then I met you. And it didn't matter anymore what strangers thought, because I was wrapped up in a new world with you and I finally felt like someone understood me. The me behind the wall I put up. I thought those parts of me would be lost forever before I met you; I thought they'd be secrets between me and the mirror. And then you said what you said and you took that all away from me, Rei. And I don't even know how to forgive you anymore."

Rei looked up at the stars shining despite the lights of the city. She kept trying not to cry but by the way the sky was blurring all together she could tell the tears were close to spilling from her eyes. "Is this…I don't get another chance, do I?"

"You _would,_" Minako fumed, "If you could just tell the truth. If you could make me understand why you said all those things to me, why you hurt Haruka, just…why, Rei? Why, all of it?"

Rei felt the familiar tremor of fear rippling up her spine. Honesty was harder than it looked. She knew she wasn't ready to say all of it.

"I've…I've had this secret I've been keeping and it…I was losing it, Minako. I really was. It just built up and I thought I could keep it forever and be okay, but I couldn't. I hurt you because I hated the person I was becoming."

Minako wasn't expecting that. She wasn't expecting anything. Except maybe an unreadable silence.

"What is it?"

"What?"

"Your secret," Minako clarified, "What is it?"

"I…can't." Rei looked down; she looked like Atlas holding up the world. She looked like it was about to fall into the cosmos. "I just admitted it to myself, and really accepted it you know? As something that isn't ugly. That isn't as bad as I thought, maybe even not bad at all. Maybe beautiful." Her eyes turned a lighter shade of violet, in fact her whole demeanor seemed slightly lifted somehow, though her smile was still the stoic, self-deprecating half-smirk of a girl who'd yet to atone for her sins, "I dunno. But if I tell you now Mina, and you hate me for it, or even worse, don't care, then…"

She let it hang in the air; her voice was too busy trying to swallow the lump that formed at the idea of confessing her feelings to Minako and having the young blonde reject her.

"You're scared I'll ruin it..."

Rei said nothing.

Minako shook her head disbelievingly, "I knew it…I knew you'd find a way to say nothing at all. I almost fell for it too…but, you can take me home now Rei."

"Minako…I'm gay."


End file.
